Written by new-contact on Dec 2, 2011. Posted in General Interest

Editor’s Weekly

Lots of news from the US this week as authorities measure the local impact of filming incentives and the tussle continues between Los Angeles and New York. The UK has been promoting its interests in Los Angeles and we spoke to Jamie Lengyel, Supervising Location Manager on Scorsese’s Hugo, about building a Parisian train station for the movie.

The renewal earlier this year of New York’s state filming incentive scheme has had a sizeable impact on production, with a rise of almost 70% in the number of projects filming on location in the state so far in 2011. Although the scheme has its detractors they seem less vocal than their Californian counterparts.

The renewal earlier this year of New York’s state filming incentive scheme has had a sizeable impact on production, with a rise of almost 70% in the number of projects filming on location in the state so far in 2011.

Los Angeles is losing a lot of TV to the East Coast, partly because the California incentive scheme was only renewed for 12 months and that doesn’t work for TV producers planning for a long run. California may be the home of Hollywood, but the numbers make more sense in New York at the moment, especially in these austere times when even hit shows are under pressure to do more with less.

It perhaps doesn’t help that the Occupy LA protest movement has set up camp at City Hall, which is putting off film crews from using the hugely popular filming location. The industry hasn’t made too much fuss though, perhaps because a lot of its rank and file support the protesters’ basic ideology.

While the coastal industries still dominate, there are stirrings in the centre as well, with Savannah being the latest Mid-West city to consider building large-scale studio facilities. However, they’re targeting low-budget productions and don’t seem intent on competing nationally just yet.

California may be the home of Hollywood, but the numbers make more sense in New York at the moment, especially in these austere times when even hit shows are under pressure to do more with less.

The UK has been in Los Angeles too, with Ed Vaizey, the UK’s Minister for Culture, Communications and Creative Industries, in town to shake the hands of the Hollywood elite. Britain continues to be in the international spotlight partly because of Scorsese’s new family film Hugo, which filmed mostly in the UK. Jamie Lengyel, the film’s Supervising Location Manager, gave us a great account of how the project was put together.

We also spoke to Natalie Duncan, a Location Manager based in Queensland, Australia, and to Julie Craik, the local film office head based in Scotland’s Tay & Fife.

As always, The Location Guide’s Film-Friendly Locations database continues to grow. If you manage a building or a location that you think qualifies as film-friendly, or you’ve filmed somewhere recently that you think should be listed on our website, please contact Ewa.

If you’ve got some great location filming stories to share and you’d like to be part of our profile section (see here), or you have an idea for an article (see here) please contact Murray.

If you've been working on location anywhere in the world and you're looking for some press coverage, please contact Nick. We’d all be happy to hear from you.

(Image courtesy of Jamie Lengyel)